EPS nominees

Research award

Brian Dandurand

School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science - Nominated on behalf of 5 individuals

"Brian has been a lone hero developing a novel ground-breaking solution to high-performance computing in the context of an EPSRC New Horizons project.  He has proposed techniques for avoiding data communication between processes executing on different servers by predicting the values to be communicated on the receiver’s end.  Working as the sole researcher on this short, blue skies project, Brian solved the challenge of achieving correct predictions and efficient execution.  This required exceptional skills across mathematics and computer science.  He implemented his ideas in LAMMPS, a leading open-source software used worldwide for molecular dynamics simulations, and he submitted his contributions for integration in the master branch.  He presented his work at a leading international conference on HPC.  He has been instrumental in the recruitment of a new PhD student to continue this research, and he developed and won a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellowship in his name.  He is currently supporting the development of a new grant proposal to expand on this research.

Brian has presented his work at the NI Science Festival in 2025, and he is a recognised member of the international research community as evidenced through regular invitations to review manuscripts for leading journals and conferences."

Support award

Colm Fitzpatrick

School of Mathematics and Physics - Nominated on behalf 3 individuals

"On behalf of Centre for Light Matter Interactions we would like to nominate Dr. Colm Fitzpatrick for a PDC Postdoc award in the Support Category for ‘Outstanding delivery of the Central Laser Facility training weeks at Queen’s University Belfast in March 2025’.  Our national research laboratory, the Central Laser Facility (CLF), is undergoing a major upgrade.  As a result, the Facility currently has no laser system capacity to deliver their annual training weeks, where students from Universities across the UK receive intensive training in high power laser safety, usage and research opportunities. 

In 2024, the Head of CLMI (Prof. Dromey) was approached by CLF to host these weeks at our TARANIS laser system.  Taking this opportunity was only made possible by Dr. Fitzpatrick assuming the mantle of Training Weeks Lead.  This involved liaising directly with CLF to incept a novel training programme that fits with our in-house capability and hosting 14 visitors (staff from CLF and PhD students from 6 UK Universities).  Along with delivering excellence in training, Dr Fitzpatrick arranged accommodation and looked after their general well-being.  This level of support went far above the normal Postdoc duties and greatly enhanced the reputation of QUB on the national stage. "

Citizenship and Outreach award

Charlotte Angus

School of Mathematics and Physics - Nominated on behalf of 3 individuals

"Charlotte has brought incredible energy and direction to the public engagement activities in our Centre.  Over the past year she has gone far above and beyond all expectations for public outreach and leadership, building strong partnerships with key STEM organisations including the Ulster Museum, the NI Science Festival, and the Irish Astronomical Association.  These have opened new avenues for collaboration and STEM outreach and enabled us to reach hundreds of people and families.

A standout achievement has been her revival of the IAA’s portable planetarium dome.  What was previously an underused asset is now a central feature of public outreach activities in the School.  She has led major events showcasing the dome, sought funding to modernise it, and trained colleagues in its use to ensure its legacy value.

Charlotte played a leading role in organising events like QUB Astronomy Day that reached hundreds of people, using art and creativity to promote science for all.  She has helped to widen access to STEM through her thoughtful and hands-on approach to mentoring interns and work experience students in astrophysics.

Her work has expanded our visibility, strengthened links with the public, and created an open, collaborative, and supportive culture."

Research award

Elias Gerstmayr

School of Mathematics and Physics - Nominated on behalf of 2 individuals

"Elias has been instrumental in the progress of projects on strong-field QED, particle acceleration and inverse Compton scattering.  He has been a major author on several papers, with more submitted and under consideration.  In addition, he has led 10 different experiments in the last 12 months, far beyond reasonable expectations.  He has really established himself as a leader in the field and has been recognised via invitations to present at international conferences and institutional seminars. 

All this corresponds to a monumental workload, and he has shown consistently high levels of dedication and leadership to handle everything simultaneously, while also taking the time to teach and mentor PhD students at QUB, and from other institutions while he leads experiments.  Moreover, he has established a new collaboration with the world leaders in spatio-temporal control of high-power laser pulses, which allow direct control over the propagation velocity of extremely intense pulses of light.  In leading this collaboration, he has been able to secure 10 weeks of highly valuable and competitively awarded beamtime at the world’s most intense laser facilities to start a new research strand in this area.

Overall, Elias could not have performed to a higher standard and is a huge asset to the University."

Support award

Zahra Mobini

School of Natural and Built Environment - Nominated on behalf of 8 individuals

"Dr. Zahra Mobini is recognised for her outstanding support in mentoring, research coordination, teaching, and collaborative leadership. She currently supervises four PhD students and has mentored visiting researchers from Italy and China, guiding them from foundational research skills to successful IEEE publications—including three high-impact journal papers, three under revision, and five accepted conference papers.

She organises over 20 seminars at the Centre for Wireless Innovation, facilitating collaboration across research fellows, PhD students, and international speakers.  Dr. Mobini also delivered two tailored workshops on academic writing and presentation skills and provides one-on-one coaching for students with accepted papers to prepare for conferences.

As part of outreach and knowledge dissemination, she created an interactive demo and video on Cell-Free massive MIMO for the CAETS Communication Prize, highlighting societal impact.  She also contributed to social activities and team building in the wireless group.

In project coordination, Dr. Mobini authored six technical reports supporting ongoing collaboration with Huawei and co-authored publications with industry partners.  She plays a key role in facilitating cross-border collaboration. In teaching, she served as a demonstrator for a Mathematics 1 module.  Her contributions exemplify exceptional dedication to team development, academic excellence, and inclusive mentorship."

Research Award

Amir Masoud Molaei, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Nominated by 5 individuals)

Brian Dandurand, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Nominated by 5 individuals)

Elias Gerstmayr, School of Mathematics and Physics (Nominated by 2 individuals)

Krushna Kanth Varikuntla, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Nominated by 4 individuals)

Mengran Zhao, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Sabah Suhail, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Zahra Mobini, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Nominated by 4 individuals)

Support Award

Colm Fitzpatrick, School of Mathematics and Physics (Nominated by 3 individuals)

Mohamed Abdelilah Fadla, School of Mathematics and Physics

Susanna Bekker, School of Mathematics and Physics (Nominated by 3 individuals)

Zahra Mobini, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Nominated by 8 individuals)

Citizenship and Outreach Award

Amir Masoud Molaei, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Nominated by 5 individuals)

Bakul Budhiraja, School of Natural and Built Environment (Nominated by 8 individuals)

Ben McAteer, School of Natural and Built Environment

Charlotte Angus, School of Mathematics and Physics (Nominated by 3 individuals)

Sadish Oumabady, School of Natural and Built Environment